Kiss Songs Ranked
Kiss (often stylized as KIϟϟ) is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley. Well known for its members’ face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-to-late 1970s with their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits, and pyrotechnics. The band has gone through several lineup changes, with Stanley and Simmons being the only members to feature in every lineup. The original and best-known lineup consists of Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Simmons (vocals and bass), Frehley (lead guitar and vocals), and Criss (drums and vocals). With their make-up and costumes, they took on the personae of comic book-style characters: the Starchild (Stanley), The Demon (Simmons), The Spaceman or Space Ace (Frehley), and The Catman (Criss). Due to creative differences, both Criss and Frehley had departed the group by 1982. Kiss is one of the best-selling bands of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 21 million RIAA-certified albums. Kiss also holds the title as America’s #1 gold record award-winning group of all time, having earned 30 Gold albums. Kiss has 14 Platinum albums, with three albums being multi-Platinum. On April 10, 2014, the four original members of Kiss were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Kiss was ranked by MTV as the ninth “Greatest Metal Band of All Time”, and placed tenth on VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock” lists well as being ranked as the third “Best Metal and Hard Rock Live Band of All Time” by Loudwire. In September 2018, Kiss announced that, after 45 years of recording and performing, they would be embarking on their final tour, The End of the Road World Tour, in 2019. The tour’s final show will take place on July 17, 2021, in New York City where the band had formed 48 years earlier. Here are all of the Kiss songs ranked.
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20. I’ve Had Enough (Into the Fire) (Animalize, 1984)
“My favorite Kiss song. Loud, hard, great chorus, an anthem to all that is rock. All a rock song should be. Both Paul and Gene sing lead on this get-up-and-rock song.”
19. Calling Dr. Love (The Ritz On Fire (Live), 1974)
“This song has it all, including a guitarist who only appeared on one album. Despite the chaos at the time, could be their finest effort… Ever.”
18. We are One (Psycho Circus, 1998)
“I LOVE this song with a passion. It is a high energetic song with an amazing guitar solo and spooky yet lively feeling to it that can’t be beat.”
17. Lick It Up (Lick It Up, 1983)
“Definitely a song that should be higher in this list. Very well composed, lots of guitar within the verses, which also have rhyming words, with a catchy chorus, & rock n roll throughout the entire song. It’s pure genius… from who else but… KISS. It’s not a crime to be good to yourself!”
See more: Kiss Albums Ranked
16. Cold Gin (Kiss, 1974)
“This is PURE Kiss . Classic Stones influenced riff, an amazing verse setting up that memorable chorus. This should be way higher up the list. My favorite. track when playing Alive. But the original from their debut is the best version. COLD GIN TIME AGAIN!”
15. War Machine (The Ritz On Fire (Live), 1974)
“It’s like a thrash song! I don’t know why everyone likes rock and roll all nite. It’s not a good song! It’s way overrated, and they repeat “I wanna rock and roll all night and party every day” over and over and over again! It’s a song that people who don’t listen to rock love.”
14. God Gave Rock ‘N Roll to You (Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey: Music from the Motion Picture, 1991)
“This is the kind of song I’d love to listen to when I finished myself a long journey feeling victorious and all. I love how the band shows how much they love what they accomplished by saying that God gave it to them, and that is grand! The guitar riffs are just awesome and easy to sing along that it gives you a state of peace! This is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard and believe I will never get tired of it. Always reminds me of how much I’ve gotten from God.”
13. Heaven’s on Fire (The Ritz On Fire (Live), 1974)
“This song is purely what personifies kiss. Not only because they are the only one’s who can get away with singing this song but it also shows their character when up on stage partying and having a great time.”
12. Deuce (Kiss, 1974)
“A very hard yet classic rock song do to its simple but catchy riffs solo and fast beat. Though it is one of the bands oldest songs it still remains one of the best.”
11. Black Diamond (Kiss, 1974)
“By far this is the greatest Kiss song. Everything you’d expect from a great rock song smooth intro,catchy guitar riffs, amazing lyrics ,killer basslines ,a raspy screaming voice ,a unique outro and above all mind blowing lead sections played by the one and only Ace Frehley .This is by far the most creative Kiss song and it truly deserves the number one spot “
10. Crazy Crazy Nights (Crazy Crazy Nights, 1987)
“This song is just so fun and takes the repetition and makes it great. The vocals are amazing, the guitar is killer, the bass and drums back perfectly, and the keyboards accompany the song amazingly instead of taking it over. Really great song, deserves the high spot.”
9. I Love It Loud (The Ritz On Fire (Live), 1974)
“This was one of the first songs that got me to like rock music & KISS. I remember being infatuated with listening this song!”
8. Beth (Destroyer- Resurrected, 2012)
“Listen to Beth and you will fall in love with this band. Yes, it’s a slow song. It’s a bit out of the rock and roll flavor. But man does everyone LOVE this song. It is also Peter Crisis’s best song by far.”
7. Forever (Hot in the Shade, 1989)
“I’m a headbanger for life, KISS is my favorite band ever, Forever is the best KISS song because it’s romantic, charismatic and memorable.”
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6. God of Thunder (Destroyer- Resurrected, 2012)
“Hard to believe that Paul wrote this. This song used to scare the crap outta me w/ the little kid talking in the song, on Destroyer laugh out loud”
5. Love Gun (Love Gun, 1977)
“Love Gun is my favourite by Kiss. The guitar riff, the drumming, the vocals and THAT GUITAR SOLO are simply excellent in my opinion. Great song, great album.”
4. Strutter (Kiss, 1974)
“This song deserves to be number one. It is my personal favorite and its just so badass! The people that made this are full of it because if hotter than hell isn’t one of the ten best kiss songs then I’m not a kiss fan!”
3. I Was Made for Lovin’ You (Dynasty, 1979)
“For those that are still thinking that Detroit Rock City is the best song by Kiss, Damn NO This one is much a better song with a nicer guitar behind the stuff, and clearly the drummer did a longer and much clear performance.”
2. Detroit Rock City (Destroyer- Resurrected, 2012)
“I believe that if you polled the rock musicians in prominent bands that ‘Detroit Rock City’ would be voted as the number one song from KISS. My opinion is that this is the perfect rock N roll jam. It has it all from a great lyrical story, an awesome rhythm guitar riff, a rocking bass riff and a killer guitar solo culminating in an awesome guitar harmony and outro. My favorite all time rock N roll song.”
1. Rock and Roll All Nite (Dressed to Kill, 1975)
“This definitely is not their best song. For what ever reason, it seems to get most of the airplay on todays radio. Groups like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Motley Crue and D Leppard have all of their old hits played evenly on a regular basis. There are at least 20 KISS songs that should get that kind of attention but don’t.”